


Running Partners

by NephilimEQ



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, F/M, Fanart, First Kiss, Fluff, Good Communication Skills, Humor, Team as Family, Turning Canon Into Something Better, different ending, does it count as a meet cute if they already know each other?, meet cute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2020-10-25 09:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20721782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NephilimEQ/pseuds/NephilimEQ
Summary: “JJ?  What are you doing here?” he asked, trying to keep his tone polite, even though he was still confused.She gave him one of her disarming smiles and tilted her head in that way of hers as she caught her breath and said breathlessly, “I’m training for the FBI half-marathon.  What are you doing here?”He gave her a smile and wondered if this had been Rossi’s doing. It seemed like something he would do. Tell one of his teammates to join him for his run and check up on him, so that it didn’t look like that he was meddling in Hotch’s personal life…even though he was....Also known as "how-the-season-where-Hotch-takes-up-training-for-the-triathlon" should have gone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some of this dialogue is *directly* from the show, so I don't take credit for it. The rest is creative liberty, of course! The little (*) means it's not my dialogue.

** **

** Running Partners  **

** Chapter 1   
**

Deputy Chief Aaron Hotchner started to take his usual running route through the park, and then he saw Beth just a bit up ahead on the path. Well, Rossi _had_ told him to make a move…maybe now was the right time. He slowed as he approached her, and just as had happened every single time he tried to talk to her, he found himself thrown by her forward and overly flirtatious nature. The profiler in him concluded that she was attempting to compensate for some deep insecurity, so he stumbled over his words.

Finally, he had enough breath to ask her.

“So, Beth…do you think you’d like to--”

His question was cut off a familiar voice yelling at him from further down the path heading in his direction.

“Hotch! Is that you?”

He was surprised at what he saw. Special Agent Jennifer Jareau was running towards him wearing black running shorts, professional running shoes, and a dark blue tank-top, coincidentally matching his own attire. However, he was most taken off-balance by her presence. What was she doing here?

Completely forgetting about Beth, he turned to JJ as she approached at a fast clip, slowing as she got closer. 

“JJ? What are you doing here?” he asked, trying to keep his tone polite, even though he was still confused.

She gave him one of her disarming smiles and tilted her head in that way of hers as she caught her breath and said breathlessly, “I’m training for the FBI half-marathon. What are _you_ doing here?”

He gave her a smile and wondered if this had been Rossi’s doing. It seemed like something he would do. Tell one of his teammates to join him for his run and check up on him, so that it didn’t look like that he was meddling in Hotch’s personal life…even though he was.

“The same thing, actually…I had no idea that this was your kind of thing.”

Hotch gave her a look and she just grinned back.

“What do you mean, Hotch? Did you forget who you’re talking to?” she said, gesturing broadly at herself with a playful tone. “Soccer scholarship, small town…I also did track and swimming in my spare time, you know. Not much else to do in a small town besides play sports and ride bikes.”

He returned her grin, enjoying their banter, but then a cough interrupted their moment and that was when he remembered Beth.

“Oh,” he said, realizing her should probably introduce them. “Uh, JJ, this is Beth, my, uh…my running partner. Beth, this is JJ, one of my coworkers at the BAU.”

JJ reached out and shook Beth’s hand, giving the woman a friendly smile, and said, “Nice to meet you, Beth…sorry, but Mr. Silent here hasn’t mentioned you.” Beth gave her a look, but JJ quickly explained, “Oh, it’s not a surprise, really…Hotch likes to keep his personal life away from work, that’s all.”

Beth nodded and then gave the blonde a scrutinizing look and then commented, “Yeah…Aaron’s mentioned you before. You were the media liaison, right? Now you’re a profiler with the team?”

JJ looked at her, surprised by the fact that he had mentioned her, and then nodded.

“Yeah, that’s right. Who’d have thought I’d become one of them one day?”

Beth just simply gave her a tight-lipped smile and nodded. She wasn’t blind, nor was she born yesterday. She might not have been a profiler, but Aaron’s body language spoke volumes. He was very comfortable with this woman, in a way that he obviously wasn’t with her. He was always flustered around her, which she had thought was cute, but she would much rather have _this_ Aaron, instead. The Aaron that was relaxed and easily gave his smile and leaned in slightly when standing near her…but he was focused on JJ and probably wasn’t even aware of the signals that both he and the blonde profiler were giving out.

The way that JJ had said his name, “Hotch”, in such a casual and easy way, and the way that his eyes had lit up when she’d arrived, become more animated…

…Beth quickly realized that he had been taken, but simply hadn’t realized it.

She decided to gently extricate herself out of the situation, and said diplomatically, “So, Aaron…I’ve actually got to get going. I just realized that I need to get a head start on some errands, so…maybe I’ll see you around?”

She purposely left it open-ended and felt slightly hurt when he simply shrugged and nodded and answered with a noncommittal, “Sure.”

With that, she jogged down the path, casting one last glance over her shoulder at the two of them, feeling more than a bit disappointed at not realizing that he was already to committed to someone. Years of working side by side made for a unique bond, and Beth knew it. Oh, well. She’d get over it.

A muscular blond gave her a smile as she passed him, and she grinned.

Yeah. She’d get over it.

Back at the corner of the merging paths, Hotch stared at JJ, barely noticing the fact that Beth had left and another smile, mostly of confusion, crossed his face.

“So…you’re training for the half-marathon? When did you start doing that?” he asked, waiting for her to drop Rossi’s name.

JJ shrugged and then reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, balancing herself as she reached down and grabbed her ankle with her other hand and started to stretch her hamstring.

“Sorry,” she said giving him a sheepish smile, but he found that he didn’t mind, and then she answered, “Well, about a week ago I was complaining to Rossi that I was desperate to actually _do_ something, and he mentioned that the FBI was doing a special half-marathon for just the agents in the Bureau, so I thought why not?”

Ah. _There_ it was. Rossi. Of course. JJ did one last stretch, and then let go of his shoulder and he found himself slightly bereft at the lack of contact. He shrugged the feeling off and watched as she then bent down and re-tied her laces. From where she knelt on the ground, she said, “So…why are _you_ doing it?”

Hotch shrugged. 

“I guess the same as you…something to do.”

She lifted her head and smiled, and then stood back up, quickly stretching her arms over her head and flashed him a smile and observed, “So, looks like your regular running partner’s gone…mind if I join you? I could use the challenge…if you can give me one.”

He could hear the teasing in her tone and immediately his ego came out, and he arched his eyebrow as he spoke.

“A challenge? I think I can manage a light-weight like you, Agent Jareau.” 

He grinned back at her, showing her that he was teasing, and she smirked.

“You’re on…”

And with that, she took off down the path and he quickly followed. They traded off taking to the lead, changing pace several times, their entire run consisting of exchanging smiles and devious grins, trying to egg the other on and push each other just a little bit harder. After three miles, they stopped, close by to where they originally started their circuitous route.

They took their time to catch their breath, and while they did so, JJ looked down at her watch and Hotch watched in amusement as her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Well, look at that…best time yet.”

He checked his own watch, and he also was surprised to see their time for their three miles.

“Twenty-four thirty-two?” Hotch said, still panting a bit, trying to catch his breath, but at the same time grinning. “I can live with that.”

JJ laughed at his statement and just shook her head and said, “Yeah, Hotch…I think anyone could. Looks like you give me some good competition. Been a while since I’ve pulled eight-minute miles,” she added, stretching an arm across her chest, and he chuckled and added, “Tell me about it. Today was a good day, but not my usual. My legs will hate me later, I’m certain…”

He gave her yet another smile, laughing at himself, and JJ was slightly thrown by how many times that she’d seen him smile in just the last half-hour of time that she’d spent with him. He then said, the grin not leaving his face, “You’re some good competition, yourself…”

They shared a look and then she saw something in his eyes and felt her stomach flutter slightly. What was that? She quickly shoved the irregular feeling to the side and focused on stretching, easing her muscles out slowly so that she wouldn’t be sore later on that day. Hotch, stretching as well, found himself staring at JJ more than he normally would, his thoughts not as clear as he would have liked. The feeling he was having…wasn’t it supposed to be like this with Beth? The easy banter and exchanged smiles, along with comfortable silences and shared time together was what it was supposed to be like, he was sure of it…but why was it happening with JJ?

On an impulse, he decided to run with Rossi’s idea, knowing that it would cause the Italian to have a conniption, while at the same time satisfying his curiosity about what he was feeling towards his friend of eight years.

“JJ,” he said, catching her attention. She turned her head towards him, and he pushed forward, ignoring the tightness of his throat, not letting himself back down, and finally asked, “Would you like to have dinner with me this Friday?”

She looked slightly surprised, but then, unexpectedly, as he was sure that she would say no, she replied…

“I’d love to.” But then a look crossed her face as she asked, “But what about Jack?”

Hotch grinned.

“Jessica has him this weekend,” he gladly explained, and JJ grinned again, but then he countered with, “And Henry?”

She bit her lip, something that was slightly endearing and gave him a look.

“Will can watch him.”

They shared a smile, both of them seemingly unable to keep from doing so.

JJ then said, “Then it’s a date.”

With that, she flashed him a huge smile and walked towards the parking lot, heading to her car. As he watched her retreating form, he silently applauded himself for not backing down. He had a date this weekend, and he had a pretty good feeling that he’d made the perfect first step…

…He couldn’t wait to tell Rossi.

\--

(*)“Morning,” said Hotch as David Rossi joined him on the elevator. Hotch stood next to the silent Italian man on the lift, and he saw the look that the man cast his way.

“What?”

Hotch could practically feel the man’s words coming before he’d even said them.

“You work out this morning?”

Oh…so this was how it was going to be. Yes, he’d worked out, but things had changed rather drastically, not that he was going to tell Rossi that. He wondered exactly what Rossi would say if he told him that he’d worked out with JJ and had a date with her on Friday.

“I did,” he said curtly, hoping that that would end it, but he had a faint feeling that this wasn’t going to be the end of it. Rossi was like a dog with a bone, and could weasel information out of almost anybody, which was why he was so good at his job.

Rossi nodded sagely, and Hotch knew what was coming, so he braced himself for it.

“So, how was the, uh…workout?”

He heard the faint innuendo and quickly retaliated. “It’s called training and it was fine.”

“Right,” Rossi said, drawing out the vowel, voicing his sarcasm. “Training. For what, though?”

Hotch looked towards the ceiling of the lift, trying to maintain an even temper. He wanted nothing more than to tell him who his date was really with, just to shock him, but of course that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

“Just…stop.”

“You know, race day’s almost here…you’ll need a new excuse to see her,” he said obtusely.

Hotch knew that he meant Beth, but in his mind JJ was the only thought and Beth was nowhere in sight. He briefly wondered what JJ would wear, and then covered his smile as he then said,

“It’s been handled…”

“Atta boy.” The elevator doors dinged open. “When?”

“Friday.”

Then from behind him as he exited, he heard Rossi say, “Come hell or high water, Aaron, I _will_ get us back by Friday…”(*)

Hotch was glad that he was the one in front because he couldn’t stop the large grin from crossing his lips at one thought, which was the fact that it wouldn’t matter whether they were back or not…his date was going to with him on the case.

He walked into the room and they started to go over the case, but his thoughts kept drifting to JJ. He realized that during this next case he was going to have to be particularly careful in his interactions with her, so as to not give away the truth about what was going on.

She had a tendency to break down his walls rather easily, and he always let her. She was his oldest friend.

As they got onto the jet, though, one thought kept ricocheting around in his mind and he couldn’t shut it off…

…what the hell was he going to cook for the date?

\--

Derek walked into Hotch’s office.

(*)“Hey…I thought I was the one supposed to be burning the midnight oil?”

Hotch gave a slight shrug. “Well, with Strauss away the director asked me to do a little extra…I’m actually looking forward to having her back.”

As he spoke, though, he had JJ in the back of his mind, still slightly worried about her. She had taken quite a beating.

“Right,” said Morgan, sounding skeptic. “It’s not the greatest way to spend Valentine’s though, is it?”

Suddenly, Hotch snapped to attention. That was right! Tonight was his date with JJ, he’d never noticed that it was on Valentine’s Day, and he still had to make dinner for her. He had to get out…but he didn’t dare show any emotion in front of Morgan, lest he pick up on it.

Morgan saw his reaction and gave a deprecating smile.

“I forgot too…some of the singles were going to go find a bar and grab a drink if you want to come along…”

Derek then paused and motioned towards the papers on Hotch’s desk.

“I mean, unless there’s someplace else you could be.”

Hotch glanced back up at him, trying not to betray the fact that he was suddenly eager to leave because he had a date with JJ, their illustrious blonde profiler.

“Uhh, I think I’ll pass, but thank you,” he said, slightly absentmindedly as he moved papers and files across his desk.

“Uh, what about the paperwork?”

Hotch looked at him again, trying to come up with something witty to say to keep Derek off his trail.

“Well, Strauss comes back next week…I don’t want her to be bored.”

At that, Morgan grinned and walked out. “Good night, Hotch…”

“Good night, Morgan.”(*)

Now all he had to do was hightail it out of there and head home for his date with his new running partner. He controlled himself as he walked to his car, trying not to skip or show the spring in his step that was threatening to break through.

He arrived home without incident and quickly pulled out the ingredients for pasta…simple, but good, and it would impress her…

…wait a second, why was he trying to impress her?

And that was when he saw the truth...because he liked her more than he had previously realized.

He had listened to Rossi when he had instructed everyone on how to make proper pasta, but he was still slightly worried. He started to cook, adding the ingredients as had remembered Rossi adding them, trying to remember all of his instructions. Okay...something about translucence. Which ingredient though? The pancetta or the onions? Had to be the onions.

He continued to cook, but then was distracted by the phone ringing.

He quickly reached over and grabbed the phone, only half-paying attention as he moved the ingredients around the pan.

_ "Hotch, it's me...just wanted to tell you that I might be a bit late, alright?" _

He smiled as he heard JJ's voice.

"That's not a problem...see you when you're here."

With that, the two of them hung up, and then he smelled something burning. He looked down at the pan and realized that he'd left the pancetta alone for too long and it had burned. Great! There went his plans to impress her with his culinary skills. Hotch went to his back-up and grabbed his phone and hit seven on his speed-dial..._Lao Tzu's Chinese and Thai_.

He quickly ordered some Pod Thai, some chicken and broccoli, and some Orange Chicken. That should be enough.

Pulling it out the napkins and some of his nicer plates, and the entire time he set the table he silently prayed that the food arrived before she did.

\--

Aaron Hotchner was given the shock of his life when the timing on everything he'd planned turned out perfectly. Twelve minutes later, the food had arrived, and the instant after he'd taken everything out and put everything into nice serving dishes...the doorbell rang. Hotch brushed his hands on his pants and then opened the door to reveal JJ wearing a simple black dress and heels, but looking absolutely stunning, nonetheless. She walked in and he quickly closed the door behind her.

JJ was surprised that he'd cooked, and she took a deep breath.

Wait a second...she knew that smell. It was one that she was great friends with on her nights out with the girls.

She followed Hotch into his dining room and bit her lip at the sight in front of her.

Everything was beautifully placed, and he had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to make it look like that he'd cooked for her, but she couldn't resist. As he pulled back her chair for her and she sat down, she gave him a sly look from the corner of her eye, and then said, "So..._Lao Tzu's_ apparently has fast delivery time. I'll need to try it sometime."

She watched in some amusement as he nearly missed the seat of his chair as he was sitting down. Hotch, at first, glared at her, obviously upset at being found out, but the look quickly dissipated into one of embarrassment.

"That obvious, huh?"

She shook her head, letting out a small chuckle. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! But," she quickly amended, "You made some great choices. They're all my favorites..."

He gave her a look of surprise. "Really? All of them?"

JJ nodded, not quite believing the luck that he'd had when he'd ordered, and then motioned with one hand towards the kitchen.

"And I can still see the empty containers..."

Hotch turned and looked and let out a groan at the sight. "I _knew_ I had forgotten to do something..."

JJ just smiled and began to dig into the food, sharing a glance with Hotch as they ate and found herself surprised by how comfortable she was with him. Everything was turning out quite nicely, and the two of them chatted about small things, and eventually their discussion turned to their boys.

"I mean, apparently Jack is trying to make friends with this kid...and I don't know what to do. He's...he's growing up, you know?"

JJ nodded, understanding exactly what he meant.

"I know what you mean. I mean, Henry isn't Jack's age, but he's growing so quickly that I'm scared that one day I'll turn around and he won't be a kid anymore, you know?"

Hotch nodded in agreement, and then noticed that they'd both finished their meals. He stood up, taking her empty plate and his towards the kitchen.

"Would you like some wine?" he called over his shoulder, and heard her reply in the affirmative.

After placing the dishes into the dishwasher, he walked over to his pantry and looked at the few bottles that he had, wondering whether she preferred white or red. On a hunch, he pulled out the red, a Brachetto that Rossi had brought him back from one of his trips to Italy. Grabbing two wine glasses from one of the shelves and popping the bottle opener into his back pocket, he walked back into the dining area and smiled as he saw JJ look up at him, a smile at the corner of her mouth.

He motioned the bottle in her direction.

"Red?"

The smile at the corner of her mouth stretched completely across her lips at this. "You're on a roll tonight, Hotch...I _do_ prefer red."

He gave an exaggerated sigh of relief and placed the wine glasses on the table, pulling the bottle opener from his pocket.

"What a relief," he said as he popped the cork. "If you had said white, I don't know _what_ I would have done..."

He grinned and she returned it, obviously not offended by his brand of humor. He quickly, but carefully, poured them both some of the wine and then sat back down at the table, taking a small sip of the wine and his eyebrow arched in appreciation at the flavor that ran across his tongue.

JJ, not realizing it, mimicked his expression as she took a sip as well, and then looked over at him. 

"I'm impressed, Hotch...it seems you have excellent taste in wines."

She gave him a small toast and took another sip, wondering at his small laugh at her comment. He rolled his eyes slightly, and JJ's eyes were suddenly drawn to his fingers that were carelessly caressing the stem of the glass that was in his hand.

"I wish I could take the credit, this time, but you'll have to thank Rossi for this one. It was his gift to me when he came back from Italy a few months ago."

JJ smiled, yet again, and Hotch realized that he almost never saw her smile at work...which was a shame, because she had a wonderful smile and it seemed to be natural and not the least bit forced, which told him that she really _was_ having a good time. He took another drink of the red liquid and leaned back in his chair, savoring the comfortable silence between them. Their eyes caught one more time, and they shared a small smile.

Yes...this was _definitely_ something that he could get used to.

\--

JJ walked into the room, not really thinking about anything at that moment except about the case that was in her hand. She quickly downed the small five-hour energy bottle, tossing it back like a shot, and she then heard Prentiss say,

(*)“Oh, you’re not playing around…”

JJ nodded her head ruefully and quickly told them what was going on.

“Will’s away all week, so I’m pulling double duty with Henry.” 

What she _didn’t_ say was that Hotch was helping her out, and that the shot she was taking was because of their late-night conversation. They had stayed up until two in the morning simply talking and it had been rather amazing. She was learning so much about him, and it made her admire him even more.

They had taken the last week off of running, like you were supposed to, and he’d grabbed breakfast with her this morning at a small café that was out of the way from any possible prying eyes.

She watched as Prentiss grimaced at her news, and Garcia was right behind her and gave JJ a look.

“Please tell me that we are still on for Saturday night, because I have had it circled in my calendar for the past twenty-three and a half days, which, apparently from the look of you, you did _not_!”

Prentiss then put in her two cents. “Mmm…Garcia did pay good money for those salsa lessons.”

JJ came up with something quickly.

“I’ll get a sitter!”

Hotch then walked in and sat down next to her… “Let’s get started.”(*)

She knew that he’d heard the last part of their conversation, which meant that he was aware of her predicament. She didn’t want to ask him but, knowing him, he would volunteer anyway. Of course, not that anyone would hear him say anything. She knew that as soon as he had a chance to pull her away from the group without being the least bit obvious, that he would suggest it, so she decided to simply say yes…but then she realized.

The triathlon.

She’d forgotten to tell the girls that she was doing it and she had just remembered, so either way she would need a sitter. Wait…Rossi had heard their conversation as well, which meant that the only person that made any sense to watch Henry would be him, as he would already have Jack, as Hotch would only ever trust Jack to either her or Rossi, but, of course, she was in the triathlon with him.

But she _was_ running the risk of Jack or Henry saying something about her and Hotch spending so much time together…

She took a deep breath. Oh, well…that was a risk she would just have to take.

\--

(*)“So, uh, what time should I pick up Jack tomorrow?” Rossi asked, and Hotch braced himself for the inevitable as he answered.

“Uh, I have to leave by five am…”

He watched in amusement as Rossi winced.

“Okay…well, I’ll tell you what,” he said obviously in haggling mode. “You put on the coffee, I’ll be there.”

Hotch simply nodded, but he wondered how Rossi would react when he picked up both Jack _and_ Henry from his house on Saturday morning. Hopefully, he would still be too tired to say anything, and simply let things slide. It would be easier for him to pick both the boys up from Hotch’s house as he was already planning on being there…and that would Hotch’s and JJ’s explanation for the whole thing.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling.

“So…you nervous?” 

Hotch inwardly grinned, realizing that he didn’t care what he placed, so long as he did it with JJ at his side.

Rossi continued. “I mean, it’s not too late to back out.”

Hotch could hear the double meaning in his words, but he didn’t care. The thought of having JJ a bit closer in his life…well, it actually didn’t scare him. In fact, he was ready for it. He was ready for her.

He looked at Dave, a small smile on his lips.

“I’m ready…Maybe.”(*)

He added that part, as he knew Dave would be suspicious if he was too sure of himself, but inwardly he knew. He was ready for JJ…he was ready for whatever good or bad things lay ahead, so long as she was there.

\--

JJ ran along the marked path, little pink flags waving at her as she jogged past them, looking back to see Hotch pacing himself and gradually making his way to where she was.

They had stayed within sight of each other during the whole race, neither of them too eager to finish, even though they both knew that they could probably wipe the track with most of the competitors from the Bureau that were there. A lot of them were desk-people, whereas both her and Hotch were field agents.

He joined her in a few seconds, and she cast him a smile, which he quickly returned.

JJ then grinned slightly as she remembered Garcia’s reaction to her not being able to go to the salsa lessons.

\--

_ “What do you mean you’re in the triathlon?! When did this happen?!” _

_ JJ just shook her head as she adjusted the phone against her ear. “Sorry, Garcia, but I just forgot that the salsa was on the same weekend. I’ll just have to cancel. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” _

_ She could practically hear Garcia pouting on the other end of the line as she complained and threatened all at once, “Well, you better, missy! Cause if you don’t, then I will make sure that you never, and I mean _ never_, see your precious son again! Do you hear me?!”_

_ JJ laughed and nodded. “I hear you, Garcia…” _

_ As they hung up, she got the faint feeling that Garcia was more upset that she’d let Hotch take Henry for the night and then let Rossi watch him for the next morning, instead of having her, the beloved eccentric godmother, do the honors. _

_ Oh well…at least it had gone over much better than she had expected. _

\--

Hotch noticed JJ’s grin and nudged her shoulder as they ran side by side.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, slightly breathless.

JJ shrugged as well as she could while jogging next to him. “Nothing, really…just glad that Garcia didn’t threaten my computer with a virus when I told her that you and Rossi had the honors instead of her.”

She was less out of breath, more used to talking on the go from years of running laps before soccer practice with her best girlfriends and catching up on daily gossip on the go.

He nodded and let it go at that, and then grinned himself and said, “Wonder how Rossi’s doing with the boys?”

JJ grinned as well, and they pushed a little bit harder, both of them slightly looking forward to the sight that would greet them at the finish line.

\--

Rossi had been slightly surprised when he’d seen Henry at Hotch’s house, but Hotch had quickly explained the situation: Will was out of town and JJ knew that Rossi was picking up Jack at Hotch’s the next morning, so she let Henry spend the night so that Rossi could just the two boys together.

It made perfect sense to him…but it was convenient. _Too_ convenient.

He now waited with the two boys at the finish line, waiting for Hotch and JJ to cross. Only four or five people had crossed so far, and there were about two hundred or so in the race, so he wasn’t holding his breath. Garcia held Henry and gave the boy a small squeeze as she asked him, “So who do you think will come first? Your mommy or Jack’s daddy?”

The golden curled boy was silent for a moment, chewing on the edge of his thumb, and then said, “Mommy.”

The whole team smiled at that, all of them silently agreeing with the little boy’s assessment. Yes, Hotch was fit, but they knew that JJ was a tomboy at heart and could most likely swim, bike, and run circles around them all day. Rossi then looked up at Jack, who was on Morgan’s shoulders and gave the boy a smile.

“So…who do you think will cross first? JJ or your daddy?”

He watched as Jack thought for a moment and then grinned.

“JJ,” he said decisively, and Rossi was surprised, certain that the boy would have stuck up for his father. “Why do you say that, bud?” 

Jack smiled. 

“Because daddy says that she always beats him when they run together.”

Rossi said nothing but exchanged a look with Derek and the rest of the team. Hotch and JJ had been training together? Now _there_ was something he wasn’t expecting to hear. Quickly, making sure that he was understanding the boy correctly, he asked him another question.

“Does daddy run with anyone else, Jack? Like, another lady? A lady named Beth?”

Morgan and the rest of the team gave him a look, but he ignored it, not caring that they didn’t know what he was talking about.

Jack shook his head.

“Nope. He used to run with a different lady, but I think he only did that two times. He runs with Miss JJ _all_ the time,” he said, looking down the path for his father, not realizing the impact that his words had on the Italian gentleman.

Rossi looked over at Prentiss, who had been listening to the exchange, and they shared a look.

All the time, huh?

\--

Rossi and the rest of the team watched in some shock as JJ and Hotch crossed the finish line at the same time…only fifteen minutes after Rossi had finished talking to the young Hotchner boy. Neither of them seemed out of breath, and after everything that had transpired Rossi was slightly surprised.

At the sight of their parents, both Morgan and Garcia had let their charges loose and they both ran to their parents, who each quickly swept up their boys into their arms grasping them in tight hugs. Hotch let Jack down first and then saw the sign that the boy was holding.

“That’s a great sign, buddy. You make that yourself?”

He nodded, and Hotch smiled at his son’s proud face. He quickly took the medal off of his neck that he’d grabbed at the table and slid it over his son’s neck. He watched with some amusement as he saw JJ do the same with Henry, but she still held the boy in her arms. How she was able to do that after what they had just done completely baffled him. He was beat.

Now that the triathlon was done, he realized that he’d pushed himself just slightly harder than normal because JJ had been with him every single step of the way. Knowing that she was there with him, actually _enjoying_ spending time with him, it made him realize something.

He didn’t want them to just be running partners. He wanted…well, honestly, he didn’t know.

All he really did know was that they worked really well together. Running together, as well as biking and doing laps at the gym, had shown to him that they complemented each other. Wherever he was weak, she was strong, and she helped him become stronger…he _wanted_ to improve when he was around her, but not for himself. For her. He shared a look with her, not realizing that the rest of the team was watching them with curious eyes, and she grinned right back. They just, to put it as simply as he possibly could, _worked_. He wasn’t entirely sure, yet, what exactly it was that worked, but whatever it was, he enjoyed it.

Rossi clapped him on the back and gave him a grin, but Hotch immediately picked up on the smirk that hid at the corners of Rossi’s mouth underneath the honest sentiments.

“Great job, Aaron. Glad to see you finish! Have to be honest with you, I wasn’t sure that you would…”

Prentiss stuck up for him.

“Hey, c’mon, Dave…you know he would do it. This is Hotch we’re talking about, remember? Stubborn until the possible end.” She flashed Hotch a guilty grin, and he rolled his eyes at the slight insult that was thrown into the compliment. She had been spending too much time around Rossi.

“Oh, thank you so much for the support, guys,” he said, leaning down and catching his breath slightly, his hands on his knees, while Morgan, Reid and Garcia grinned.

JJ placed Henry on the ground and pointed him back to Garcia and walked over to join them.

“Hey, let up on him, will ya? He put a lot of time and effort into this,” she said with a smile, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder and tossing everyone a humorous grin. “But even if you’d trained more, you wouldn’t have beaten me, Hotch,” she finished.

At this, Hotch raised himself back up to his full, intimidating height and gave her a look, one eyebrow arched.

“Oh, really?” She nodded. He then threw her a devious smirk and she realized her mistake. “Then how come I saw you pushing to stay ahead of me as we hit the finish line?”

JJ said nothing at that, and a faint pink tint ran across her cheeks.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she mumbled and pulled her hand off his shoulder, instead taking up a defensive posture.

Hotch just continued to give her a look, and she finally relented underneath his own unrelenting gaze.

“Alright, alright! Maybe I _was_ pushing…but only a _little_ bit. You’re still not _too_ much competition, Hotch.” And with parting shot, she walked away, casting a smile over her shoulder at him as she did so, telling him that she was just kidding with him.

He let out a small laugh and then turned to see Rossi giving him the full smirk this time, instead of hiding it beneath faked congratulations.

“What?”

Rossi continued to smirk, and then motioned to the other three to scatter and then pulled Hotch to the side slightly and spoke to him privately.

“So,” he said, drawing out the vowel on the word, and Hotch suddenly flashed to his memory of the two of them on the elevator. Oh no, here it came. The inevitable. “Jack tells me that you’ve been running with JJ…how long’s that been going on?”

At this question, Hotch knew that he was done for.

The instant that he told Rossi the truth, that would be the instant that Rossi knew that Hotch had gone on his date with JJ and _not_ with Beth…this was not good.

“Does it really matter, Dave?” he asked, trying to evade the answer and throw him off the scent, but like a bloodhound, Dave did not let Hotch throw him off.

“Oh, it matters, Aaron. Because if I’m right, which I’m pretty sure that I am because of the way that you’re trying to evade me, you went out with JJ…and _not_ with Beth.” Hotch said nothing, but Dave continued anyway. “And that things have gotten serious…at least, on your end. Of that I’m sure.”

Hotch gave him a look, finally giving in, knowing that trying to deny it was futile.

“Oh, really? And what makes you so sure about that, Dave?”

Rossi’s smirk softened into an enigmatic smile and Hotch looked at his old friend, wondering what was going on in the man’s mind. Dave then responded with a few words that froze Hotch with the truth that he heard ringing in them.

“Because, in all my years of knowing you, Aaron…I’ve never seen you so relaxed with any woman like that in your life. Not even with Haley…” He paused. “If that’s not some sort of true love, then I don’t know what is.”

And with that, he walked away.

\--

It had been about a week since Rossi had confronted him with that small dose of reality, and since then Hotch had been on edge. My god…it scared him sometimes as to how good of a profiler that man was. There was a _reason_ why most of the profilers at the bureau were intimidated by him and didn’t want to work with him. He was too good at what he did.

He had been running Rossi’s last words around in his head, unsure of what to do with them…

_ “If that’s not some sort of true love, then I don’t know what is…” _

He knew that he had been glancing at JJ more than usual, and he had become aware of the fact that she had noticed it, because she had been returning his looks.

At the moment, he was in the safety of his office…but he couldn’t resist, and he glanced out of his window through his open blinds and looked down into the bullpen, where she was talking with Prentiss about a new case…

…and he wondered what she was thinking at that very moment…

\--

JJ could feel his eyes on her yet again, and she shifted slightly in her position perched on the edge of Emily’s desk, who then gave her a look.

“Hey, JJ…Hotch is looking at you again. I swear that’s the fourth time today, and probably the fifteenth time this week…” JJ said nothing, but Prentiss pushed it. “I mean, what’s up with him? Ever since race day, he’s been acting odd around you.”

She gave JJ a look, and that was when the blonde realized that she had to tell her friend part of the truth. JJ glanced around, making sure that no one else of the team was around and then looked back at her dark-haired friend.

“Uh, Emily? Can you, uh, keep a secret?”

A spark lit up in Emily’s eyes and she nodded and leaned in, obviously curious and wanting to know the meaning behind their stoic leader’s odd behavior. “Do tell,” she said, unable to keep the eager tone out of her voice. JJ inwardly groaned, knowing that Aaron was going to kill her, but also knowing that he gave her no choice.

“Okay…you know by now that Hotch and I were training together, right?” Prentiss nodded. “Okay, good. Well…we also, kind of, had a, uhm…date.” Emily gasped, but JJ quickly cut her off, explaining as quickly and quietly as she could.

“Look, it was just dinner at his house, and it was order in take-out, nothing fancy,” she said, leaving the part out about the wine. “And since then, well, this…”

She waved her hand in the air vaguely, and Emily gave her a look.

“Okay, JJ, let me get this straight…you two have dinner, _one_ dinner, and he starts gazing at you from across the room like something out of a Bronte novel? Nuh uh, something else happened, ‘fess up.”

JJ groaned. Damn profilers and their overly observant eyes.

“Alright…maybe there was a lunch,” she said, but then Emily glared. “Or two…” Emily gave her another look, an eyebrow arched. “And a couple of breakfasts!” Emily gave her another glare, now both eyebrows arched, and JJ gave up the rest of her hand, covering her eyes with a few of her fingers, slightly embarrassed. 

“And a really late night…” At this, Emily’s eyes widened significantly, and JJ quickly amended her statement. “Of talking! I swear, Emily…it was just talking. That’s the truth.”

She gave her friend a look, and the brunette finally relented, and then a look of understanding washed over her face.

“Wait…that morning you took the energy drink…that was the night you were up with, you know,” she said, not saying his name out loud, and instead vaguely motioned with one hand. “Him?”

JJ nodded, keeping her eyes down, and Emily let out a low whistle of approval.

“Gotta say, Jayje…never thought you’d be one to break the rules.” But then another look crossed her face, this one of almost fear. “But, JJ…what about Will?”

JJ inwardly groaned at the question. She had been silently hoping that her friend had forgotten about him, but who could? He was Henry’s father after all…but not her lover. How was she going to explain the situation to Emily? But just before she could say anything, Reid suddenly appeared.

“What about Will?” he asked, obviously only having heard Prentiss’ question and not the previous conversation, for which JJ was grateful. She quickly came up with a lie.

“Oh, I was just wondering what I’m going to get him for his birthday, and Emily was helping me come up with some ideas…that’s all.”

Reid just nodded and then turned his focus to some papers on his desk, and JJ gave Emily a small hidden smile of relief. That had been close…too close for comfort. She trusted Emily with a secret, but no one else. No one else, that was, besides Hotch…but of course, he already knew everything.

Well…maybe not _every_thing.

Like, he didn’t know that every time she felt his eyes on her she wanted nothing more than to turn her head and return his gaze…but not with the look she had been giving him.

She wanted him to see what she was really feeling.

Because she had finally figured a few things out over the past few weeks, and had come to one simple conclusion.

She was in love with him.


	2. Chapter 2

JJ headed towards Garcia’s office, but ran into Rossi on the way there.

“So, JJ…about this training thing,” he started, but she quickly cut him off, knowing exactly where he was headed with his questioning, and she knew better than to let him get started. If he started, she wouldn’t be able to stop him.

“I don’t have time for this, Dave, I’m going to see Garcia…”

She began to walk back down the hall, but he simply fell into step beside her, an enigmatic grin plastered on his face.

“Perfect. That was just the direction that I was headed.”

JJ inwardly groaned, but politley ignored him as she made her way to their techie’s computer space. She opened the door and smiled at the sight of Garcia twirling around in her chair, absentmindedly twirling her pen in her hand, looking utterly and completely bored.

“Garcia,” she said in a sing-song tone, and she watched in amusement as her head snapped up at the sound of JJ’s voice, and a wide smile crossed her lips.

“JJ! How are you doing today? And, even though this sounds incredibly morbid, please tell me you have a case and that you need my skills to track down yet another homicidal maniac…?”

JJ laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

“Sorry, not today…but I need to check on some police records at DCPD, do you think you could get them for me?”

Garcia pouted as she turned back to her computers and began to type, saying, “That doesn’t even require me to use any brain cells…c’mon, give me something more challenging! Like, hacking into a hacker’s private and secure Russian bank account while at the same time tracing five I.P. addresses that are being bounced by four different satellites…”

She hit print on the pages she found, and JJ gave her a smile, while Garcia continued to pout.

“Sorry, maybe next time…”

And with those parting words, she left the room with papers in hand, leaving Rossi standing in the doorway. Because of how quickly she left, JJ didn’t notice the look that crossed his eyes and the smirk that formed on his lips at Garcia’s words. he needed a challenge, huh? He had just the perfect one for her. A plan had formed in his mind and he realized that with her particular skills, he _just_ might be able to pull it off without detection…_if_ she was willing to help.

It was all in the approach.

“Garcia…” he said carefully. “I’ve got a project for you. And trust me…this will take a _significant_ amount of effort.”

Not even bothering to ask what the project was, Garcia clasped her hands together in a gesture of prayerful gratitude and turned back to her monitors, wiggling her fingers above the keys in anticipation of whatever the task was that he was about to ask of her.

“What do you need?”

He closed the door to her office and walked up to the back of her chair and leaned in close, placing a hand on her shoulder, keeping his voice low to ensure that no one overheard him.

“Can you get me security-video footage of Potomac Park from two weeks ago? Specifically, the morning of the day that we got the case with the bodies in the lifeguard station.”

Garcia paused, and then looked up at him, a curious look forming on her face at Rossi’s odd request, as well as a glance towards the hand on her shoulder. He returned her look with a lifted eyebrow, trying to convey the seriousness of what he was asking her to do for him, gently squeezing her shoulder in silent response.

“Trust me, Garcia…this is _very_ important.”

She slowly surrendered and turned back to her screens, slowly dralwing, “Okay…if you say so.” And with that, her fingers flashed across the keyboard, and within about two minutes, she had the footage up on one of the monitors. “Which camera do you need?”

“The one nearest to the east entrance, if you could,” he said, knowing that that’s where Hotch always parked.

The screen flashed over to it, and Dave smiled as he saw Hotch appear on the screen and walk over to Beth…and then JJ showed up. He watched the body language between the two of them and started grinning like an idiot.

“Go forward about twenty minutes or so…” 

She did, and Rossi grinned as he saw them show back up on the screen, both out of breath, and then watched their interactions. JJ’s shy smile, Hotch’s uncertain grin. Yes…now he was certain. JJ liked Hotch just as much as Hotch liked her. Now time for part two of his plan.

“Garcia…how would you like to help me plan a surprise?”

She had seen the footage, and even though she wasn’t a profiler she had the distinct feeling that she was going to like Rossi’s plan. A grin crossed her lips, and she suddenly realized that whatever it was going to be, it was going to be fun, and very possibly bring two of her favorite people together. She turned in her chair and the two of them shared a grin…

“I am ever at your service…what do you need me to do?”

\--

Garcia carefully went over what Rossi had outlined to her.

It was a simple enough plan, but the timing on it had to be _perfect_, or else both of them would suspect something.

Garcia was simply going to tell Prentiss that she needed to bring up the idea for a girls’ night out, which would mean that she would have to bring Emily in on the plan and swear her to secrecy. Once Emily suggested the night out, both she and Garcia would do everything in their power to guarantee that she could make it.

Rossi had the flip side of things.

He was going to tell Morgan to suggest a guys’ night out, which, of course, meant bringing him in on the plan as well. The only person not in the loop would be Reid…but it was probably for the best.

She grinned to herself as she remembered what Rossi had said to her when she’d asked him why Derek had to be the one to suggest the guys’ night out…

\--

_“Wait…why does Derek have to be the one to ask? You’re Hotch’s best friend; you should be the one doing the asking!”_

_“Because, Penelope…. If_ I _were the one to suggest it, he’d _know_ that I have something planned. Aaron knows me too well and knows that I won’t let anything go, which means it _has _to come from someone else, and it certainly can’t be Reid.”_

_He said this part pointedly and she nodded, suddenly understanding._

_“Ohh…I get it.”_

\--

She began the first part of the plan and quickly hacked into JJ’s online day planner and checked to see what she was doing on that Friday night…nothing! Perfect, that meant they could corral her into going. She then hacked Hotch’s planner and just stared at her screen morosely, feeling slightly bad for the two of them. _Do these two just not have lives? _she thought to herself as she saw his mostly empty schedule and mentally compared it with JJ’s similar one.

Well, at least they knew that they could easily get the two of them in one place.

With that confirmed, she quickly wrote Rossi a text message.

_Clear skies. Fri @ eight?_ She then paused, and thought of the perfect place and finished the text. _Lao Tzu’s?_ She hit send and waited.

_Perfect. C u then._

Garcia smiled at seeing that Rossi was using shorthand. She had been teaching him so that he didn’t constantly run out of room when he tried to write his texts. Now was the hard part. Bringing two agents in on the plan. But the trickiest part about it was the fact that neither of them knew that anyone else was involved.

Prentiss would only know Garcia was involved, and Morgan would only know that Rossi was involved. _That_ way, when they saw each other, there would be genuine surprise instead of the two of them both trying to suppress grins, as both Garcia and Rossi knew would happen if they let them know about the other. Also, that prevented Hotch and JJ from finding out about their plan. And having Reid kept in the dark about everything, guaranteed three genuine reactions, hopefully distracting from Garcia and Rossi.

Quickly, Garcia stood up and briskly walked out of her office and down into the bullpen, glad to see Emily all alone…but slightly suspicious.

“Emily!”

Prentiss looked up and smiled at seeing her favorite tech analyst and said fondly, “Hey, Garcia…what are you doing so far from your temple?”

The blonde, sometimes redhead, quirked a faint smile and motioned for the dark-haired profiler to follow her. Emily took her time leaving her desk, obviously confused, but it was obvious that she trusted her because she followed her back to her “temple”, as Emily had called it, and only gave a faint look of interest as Garcia shut her door and then motioned for her to sit down.

“So,” said Prentiss, drawing out the single syllable as she carefully sat down. “What’s this about?”

Garcia sat down across from her in her own chair and gave a slight grin as she asked, “How would you like to help me in setting JJ up with a great guy?”

Prentiss’ eyebrows rose at that question, and she suddenly looked towards the door, as though reassuring herself that it _was_ closed, and then said, “You mean Hotch?”

Garcia's eyes first went wide, and then she pouted at her surprise being ruined and said, “How did you know? You know, that is totally _not_ fair, you know, that everyone else already knows about them but _I_ didn’t until today!”

Prentiss’ look turned from curious to accusing in an instant at hearing her friend’s words.

“Everyone _else_? Who all knows?”

Garcia winced, suddenly realizing her fatal use of words. How could she get out of this one? Could she get out of this one? She thought about it for a moment, and then finally found some wiggle room in her unfortunate wording and carefully said, “Well, you know, Rossi suspects something, and maybe accidentally mentioned so to me, so if Rossi knows, then of course everyone else knows!”

Prentiss gave her a reassuring smile.

“Rossi never said a word to me…JJ told me herself, Penelope. I was just surprised that you knew about their dates, already.”

At that, Garcia’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline in an instant, her eyes widening at what she’d just heard one of her best friends say.

“What dates?”

At this, she watched as Emily winced this time, and then bit the inside of her lip. She was beating herself up at the moment, as she had promised JJ that she wouldn’t say a word, but Garcia had said that she’d just found out today…and then Emily had assumed that that meant everything.

“Uhh, nothing, Garcia…forget I said anything.”

“Oh no, no, no, no…this is the juiciest gossip that I’ve heard in months…JJ and Hotch are dating?! Like, seriously?!”

Prentiss shook her head, suddenly finding herself preaching exactly what JJ had preached to her.

“Not really _dates_, just two friends getting to know each other a bit more.” And then she paused, remembering her question to JJ about a certain man in her life, and then a look crossed over Garcia’s face and Emily realized that the same question that had occurred to her had just occurred to their beloved tech analyst as well.

“Emily…” Garcia said, her tone slightly breathless. “What about Will?”

\--

Rossi was a bit wary about approaching Morgan, but he knew that it had to be done. Hopefully, things had gone smoothly for Garcia over on her end. However, for some odd reason, he had a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, but he pushed it aside, focusing instead on the task at hand.

“Derek,” he said, approaching the man’s desk. “I’d like to talk to you when you can spare a moment.”

The profiler nodded and went back to whatever report he was filing. Rossi knew that Derek was trying to make Hotch’s work load easier, which was why he was now also staying later than he normally would after work, filing cases and filling out forms. _Geez,_ Rossi thought to himself. _They _both _need a break…_

Morgan finally came back, and Rossi pulled him to the side.

“I think maybe you should suggest to Hotch that we go out some night, you know? The guys; all three of us, you know…like a guys’ night out. He could use a break.”

Morgan gave him a look, obviously confused by Rossi’s behavior. He leaned back on his desk, crossing his arms across his chest, and gave the older man a look. He wasn’t born yesterday…something was up, of that he was certain. He focused his gaze on the Italian man and said, “Why is this so important to you, Dave? If anyone should suggest something like that, it _should_ be you…”

His voice trailed, and Rossi quickly tried to counter.

“On other occasions, yes, it should be…but Aaron is a bit wary of me right now, so if I even _hinted_ at it, he would simply dig in his heels. _You_ know that better than anyone.”

Morgan gave him a look, obviously not quite sure of what to make of the situation…but then he nodded and said, “Alright, then. I’ll suggest it.” Rossi relaxed, but then tensed once more as Morgan then said, “But if Hotch says no the first time, I’m not going to push it, got it?”

Rossi reluctantly nodded, but was inwardly smiling. He had a feeling that things would go just fine.

\--

“What do you _mean_ he said no?!”

Derek shrugged his shoulders as he poured himself a cup of coffee and said lightly, “Well, let’s see…I asked if him if he wanted to go out for drinks with the guys, he said no. That’s about it.”

He finished pouring his cup of coffee, and then leaned against the counter as he took a sip as he looked on in confusion at the reaction of the older profiler. Rossi was pacing back and forth in front of him, one hand in his pants pocket, the other gesticulating as he started to rant.

“I mean, I _understand_ why he would say no to me, but why on earth would he say no to you? You’re a friend, a confidante of sorts…”

Morgan shrugged again, something that was silently starting to annoy the older man.

“Look, I told you what he said. I don’t know what else you were expecting from him, Dave…this _is_ Hotch we’re talking about.”

Rossi gave him a look, and then pressed for more information.

“What were the _exact_ words exchanged in this conversation, Derek? Tell me _every_ detail…” He saw Derek about to protest, so he pushed more. “Ah ah ah, don’t even _try_ to tell me that you don’t remember every word…it was a short conversation. So, tell.”

Rossi continued to pace, obviously still distraught. Morgan relented as he saw this and put his coffee mug down onto the counter, crossing his arms across his chest, and then rehashed what had happened.

“Fine. I walked into his office and I said, quote, ‘Hey, Hotch…the guys and I are grabbing drinks after work this Friday to wind down, we thought we should make it a guys’ night out…do you want to come?’, and then he said, ‘Thanks, Morgan, but no. I’ve got other plans.’ I left, the end. Anything else you need to know? Like the color of his tie?”

Rossi glared at Derek, ignoring the flippant tone in his words at the end, and then suddenly stopped pacing. An odd grin crossed Rossi’s lips…one that said he had figured something out.

“He said he had other plans?”

He gave Morgan a look, and the younger profiler nodded. “Yeah, why? What’s that got to do with anything?”

Rossi said nothing, instead exiting the room with a spring in his step while Morgan looked on in confusion…and some interest. There was _definitely_ something going on there; though, what it was, he wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to find out. If Rossi was planning something, he decided, he wanted nothing to do with it.

He had no desire to get caught in the crosshairs of Hotch’s anger…he’d let Rossi deal with that on his own.

\--

Rossi smiled to himself as he walked down to Garcia’s office, a new plan formed in his mind.

Oh, he couldn’t _wait_ to put it into use. And, even though he knew that Hotch would probably try to kill him afterwards, he had a good feeling that it would all be worth it in the end…now, he just had to talk Garcia into it, which would be a lot harder than convincing Derek Morgan.

Even Garcia would find this plan to be…well, a bit _too_ devious.

He couldn’t wait.

\--

Garcia looked at Dave in shock…the man was _suicidal_; that was the only explanation for it. Her mouth gaped open, her eyes still wide, and she was incredibly glad at that moment that no one else was in the room when she finally reacted.

“Are. You. Crazy?! Hotch will _kill_ you…and, because of what he knows, and also because of the fact that I would be willing to help him, he would get away with it and no one would ever find the body!”

Rossi gave Penelope a look, skepticism across his face.

“Okay, don’t you think you’re being a _little_ over-dramatic?”

She shook her head, turning back to her computers and attempted to ignore him.

“Uh uh, not at all.” He tried to speak once more, but she cut him off. “Nope, I’m not doing it. There is no way in _hell_ that I’m going through with this crazy plan of yours. I mean, I always knew that you were insanely smart and all, but genius has _definitely_ become madness in this case…”

Rossi gently grabbed the back of her chair and rotated her back around, forcing her to look at him.

“Okay, then…you have any other bright ideas, oh omnipotent-one?”

She hesitated, thinking for a moment…and then a small smile appeared on her face.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

With that, she turned around and began to type furiously, and Rossi watched…and a smile of approval crossed his lips as he saw what she had pulled up onto her screen. Hotch’s cell-phone’s call history…and was surprised to see JJ’s number on there.

“Wait a second…why did Hotch call her on _these_ dates?” he asked, pointing to a few particular days, and then he saw a look cross Garcia’s face.

“Uh…I kinda found something out, actually, from Prentiss…”

She paused, and he gave her a look, arching one eyebrow. “Well…?”

She hesitated a few moments longer, but soon gave way under Rossi’s gaze.

“Hotch and JJ are already dating!”

A look of shock crossed his face, but it was soon replaced with one of uncomfortable intensity as he stared intently at her, obviously upset.

“And you waited to tell me this until now because…?”

Garcia shrugged and gave him a look of genuine apology, praying he wasn’t too angry at her.

“Uh, I forgot?”

He sighed in exasperation, realizing that it was impossible to be mad at her. She was just too, too…too Garcia. How could anyone stay mad at Penelope Garcia for any length of time? It just wasn’t possible. He then gave her a look and asked, “Then what are we supposed to do _now_?”

A hint of a smile appeared on the corner of Garcia’s lips and her eyes softened as she looked at the older Italian gentleman.

It was suddenly obvious to her what was going on. Rossi had thought of JJ as a daughter for years, and had been a close friend, as well as surrogate father, to Hotch for all the years that he’d known him. He simply wanted the two of them to be happy, and now that he knew that they cared for each other he was just trying to make it work; trying to make sure that nothing would ever come between the two of them that would ruin what they had.

Finally, Garcia answered his hypothetical question.

“We do nothing, Dave…” He looked at her in surprise, but then smiled as he saw her soft look. “…We do nothing.”

\--

JJ slid into her office chair, collapsing from exhaustion.

However, before she could let herself fully relax, she spotted the piece of paper on her desk that had a familiar scrawl.

She picked it up and read, _JJ, this is for your own good. Since you couldn’t make it to the salsa dancing, this is for you…one night of free dancing! Go or face my wrath! All my love, Penelope_

Underneath the note was a ticket. A smile crossed her lips. Well, fair was fair, she thought to herself. She had abandoned her on her night of planned salsa dancing lessons, so it made sense that Garcia would find a way for her to go to them anyway. Oh, well…it looked like her Saturday night was now occupied.

She started to organize the papers on her desk, putting some into file folders and others into her bag, and she read the invitation one more time.

Hold up…

Written in miniscule print on the small ticket she read the words: Couples Only.

At seeing this, JJ groaned. It seemed that she’d been set up. She knew that it wasn’t by accident, oh no, because that just wasn’t Garcia’s style. Somehow, she didn’t know how, Garcia had found out about her and Hotch and this was her way of getting even.

Sighing to herself, she resigned herself to the fact that she was going salsa dancing this weekend…

With Aaron Hotchner.

\--

“I thought you said we were going to do nothing?” Rossi said, arching an eyebrow at Garcia as they saw JJ pick up the tickets that had been left on her desk through the slats of her window office, and Garcia glanced at him and drawled, “This is a nudge, barely more than nothing. Besides…how long do you think they’ve been secretly pining for each other?” she added. “If they had it their way, they’d date for seven more years before anything happened.”

Rossi chuckled and shook his head.

“Remind me to never tell you about my love life.”

She winked.

“I’d find out about it if I wanted to, anyway, my fine friend.”

He shook his head a second time and gently squeezed her shoulder and said, “You are a menace, Penelope Garcia. Glad you’re on our side…”

She threw him a grin.

“For now.”

\--

JJ smoothed her hands along the waistline of her dark blue, A-line dress, trying to calm the butterflies that had appeared out of nowhere in her stomach.

She had told Hotch about what Garcia had done, but he had just given her a smile and happily agreed to go salsa dancing with her. He was supposed to pick her up at any minute, now. As she was sliding her jacket over her shoulders, she suddenly heard the front door open and then slam shut.

Oh no…she forgot Will was coming home tonight.

She inwardly berated herself for not thinking that far ahead and scolded herself for forgetting something so important. She quickly grabbed her purse and walked out into the hall, preparing herself to face his anger. Yes, he’d known that she’d been spending time with their boss, but she hadn’t fully explained everything to him in an outright, candid manner.

Now was probably not the best time, but it looked like it was going to be the only time she had. Hotch was going to be there in a few minutes, so she would have to make the best use of the time that she had to explain things to Will.

She walked into the living room and saw Will sprawled on the couch, his jacket flung over the back of it. He looked up at hearing her walk into the room and gave her a look.

“You look nice,” he said in his distinctive Southern drawl. “Going somewhere?”

Feeling a guilty flush cross her face, she simply nodded and sat down in the chair nearest the couch, trying to figure out exactly how she was going to tell him. The only reason why it was awkward was because of the fact that even though they weren’t a couple any longer, they were still _living_ together.

“Uh, yeah, Will…about that…look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, but--”

He cut her off, a strange smile tugging on his lips.

“It’s your boss, isn’t it?”

JJ looked at him in shock and he let out a small chuckle. “Look, JJ…I know things are weird between us and I _am_ sorry that we couldn’t work things out.” He paused, and then continued. “But that doesn’t mean you have to put your life on hold for me. Go out, have fun.” There was a moment of silence, and then he added, “And I can watch Henry tonight, it’s not a problem. Don't worry, I'll cancel the babysitter.”

Her mouth gaped at hearing the gesture, and she felt as though she were floundering in the water.

“Will, you don’t know…thank you. Thank you for understanding, and for not making it into some huge thing, and…and how did you know it was Hotch?”

He gave her an enigmatic smile and ducked his head in that certain way of his that she was intimately familiar with, his eyes looking towards the floor slightly as though he was embarrassed by what he was about to say.

“Well,” he drawled, laying on the Southern charm, “I may not be a profiler, but the few times I saw you guys together, there was just…you know…somethin’ there.”

He looked her in the eye.

“Somethin’ good.”

The blonde profiler felt the heat rush to her face and she dropped her eyes once more. She then started to open her mouth to say something more, but a knock sounded on the door.

“You better get that,” Will said, motioning his head towards the door. “I bet he doesn’t like to be kept waiting…especially for you.”

JJ just gave her ex a small smile and stood, self-consciously running her fingers along the waistline of her dress, again. She started to walk towards the door, but then paused for a moment, turning back to Will…and then gently placed her hand on his where it lay along the back of the couch.

“Thanks, Will.”

He shrugged. “Anytime. Now go answer that door before I shove you out of it,” he added with a playful smirk on his lips.

She nodded and answered the door.

And as she saw Aaron Hotchner, she felt her heart stop for a brief moment. He looked devastatingly handsome in black tuxedo pants with a matching jacket, and a crisp white dress shirt underneath, no tie, the first few buttons undone, exposing his neck.

“Hotch…wow, you look great,” she breathed, still trying to catch her breath at the sight.

The look in his eye was one of approval as he looked at her.

“You look pretty amazing, yourself.”

He then looked around her and she saw a confused look cross his brow. “Where’s Henry?”

At that, JJ tensed for a moment and then quickly relaxed, deciding that if she handled the situation as if it wasn’t a big deal, then Hotch would handle it the same way as well. She wanted him to know that she and Will were over.

“Oh, Will is home tonight and he volunteered to take care of Henry while you and I go out on our date,” she said pointedly, and a small smile of understanding crossed his lips.

“Well, that’s good. So,” he said, offering his arm to her. “Shall we?”

She simply slid her arm into his and stepped out onto the porch with him, closing the door behind her.

“Yes, let's.”

\--

They arrived at the building a few minutes early and walked inside. They were both surprised to find an extremely well-furnished reception area and were both speechless when they were led into the spacious and obviously expensive dance studio. It was massive, and JJ was suddenly nervous as to how many people were going to be there…and also about her two left feet.

She’d actually been silently grateful to discover that the triathlon was on the same day as the salsa lessons because of one little unknown fact: she could not dance.

She had been trying her entire life to learn, but had never quite gotten it, and now here she was about to make a fool of herself in front of her boss, the man that she was now, dare she even think it, dating.

Hotch saw her wringing her hands and gently placed a hand on her lower back.

“JJ…you’ll be fine,” he whispered low into her ear, and she felt a small skittering sensation run down her spine as his breath brushed her ear.

His other hand then came up and covered both of hers and she flushed at the sensation. At the same time, though, she was trying to figure out her reactions to his touches. She’d never felt herself react like this to anyone in her life. It was almost as though he knew what was going through her head and knew just how to calm her, how to touch her in just the right way.

Shoving that thought to the back of her mind, she instead turned her gaze to the people who were filtering into the room.

After about seven or eight more couples showed up, a woman with gorgeous black hair wearing a dark red dress walked into the room, trailing a young Hispanic man behind her. It was obvious that these two were the instructors from the way they carried themselves.

“My name is Senora Maria Alvarez, and this is my partner,” she motioned to the man behind her, “Senor Marcos Flores.” She let her eyes cast over the group and JJ had the distinct feeling that they were being appraised as though they were cattle. She continued. “Tonight, you are going to learn how to Salsa…however, whether or not you actually succeed depends entirely on you.”

JJ looked over at Hotch, amused by the woman’s tone, and he gave her a look in return, one eyebrow raised. They then turned their attention back to the instructor and watched as she demonstrated the first basic steps and then motioned for the rest of them to try.

With relative ease, Hotch slid his right hand around her waist, and firmly, but softly held her right hand in his left, her left hand going to his shoulder.

The sensual connotations of the dance were not lost on her, and she suddenly felt the urge to run from the room, but she managed to tamp down on the urge and instead focused on following his lead, something she hoped that she could do. She was surprised as he led the two of them easily through the basic step, and she gave him an inquisitive look, but he avoided eye contact, leaving her very confused. As the rest of the evening progressed, JJ soon discovered that he was very good at this.

Even though she had never been any good at dancing, she found that with him leading it was almost easy, fluid even. After several long minutes, she was surprised to find that he was even adding in a few extra steps here and there, using small flourishes and moving her in several different ways than was being shown by their instructors.

While he was doing this, he caught the eye of one of their instructors, and JJ felt herself tense as Senor Flores approached them, an approving look in his eye.

He motioned for them to stop, and then gave them a look.

“You two have danced together before, no?” he asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

JJ shook her head, explaining the situation. 

“Actually, no, we haven’t…I’m not all that great, really; just following his lead,” she said, motioning towards Hotch next to her.

Senor Flores turned his appraisal towards Hotch, and a faint smile crossed his lips. JJ wasn’t sure what to make of the look, so she kept herself quiet, but soon wondered what was going on inside the instructor’s mind. However, her wondering was ended when he said, “You, sir, are quite good. Excellent footwork, strong framework…you’ve been professionally taught, no?”

JJ looked over at Hotch in surprise, expecting him to correct the young man, but he simply said, “Yes. Ten years of dance lessons. Ballroom and Latin.”

At hearing this, she was even more surprised, not expecting to hear such things, but at least it explained why he was so good on the dance floor. He had led her around with such confidence and ease that she’d assumed that he was merely a quick study, but this seemed to make more sense. This seemed to satisfy the man’s curiosity, however, as he simply nodded and then motioned for them to continue. As Hotch began to lead her around the room once more, JJ couldn’t help but ask…

“Dance lessons, Hotch? I never would have guessed…”

He let out a sigh and she watched as a faint strained smile crossed his lips and then a quiet low groan escaped him.

“It’s a closely guarded secret, JJ, and I want you to realize that I’m trusting you to guard it with your life…” He paused and gave her a semi-serious look. “And that means, if someone on the team finds out, I’m docking your pay.”

She laughed and simply continued to follow his lead.

“Understood, Hotch. I won’t tell anyone. Promise.”

He smiled.

“Good.”

They continued to dance together through the rest of the evening, and she found herself honestly enjoying the feeling of being in his arms.

In the back of her mind, it made a strange sort of sense that they even danced well together. They already worked well together as a team and had now been running partners for some time…and it seemed their compatibility extended to the dance floor as well. With that thought, however, came another one that left her practically breathless…

…If they worked together so well here, what would it be like if they…?

She felt her body flush with heat at the mere idea of it, but she quickly shoved the thought away, though she still remained warm from the thought. In the back of her mind, however, she lingered on the thought, wondering if the two of them would ever make it that far…if, eventually, they would be that close. She silently hoped but knew that she needed to take things one day at a time; they hadn’t even kissed yet.

All too soon, the class was over, and Hotch was driving her back to the small apartment that she shared with Will.

On the way back, he asked…

“So, you and Will…he’s still living there, but you’re not together anymore?”

JJ gave him a look, feeling the tension appear between them, and then leaned her head on her window. “It’s actually pretty simple: he’s not making enough money to afford his own place, so I’m effectively letting him stay with me until he can. He’s an official houseguest.”

At that, he chuckled and gave her a small smile.

“Got it,” he said, still grinning from ear to ear, and she felt any sort of tension between them dissipate.

Sooner than she would have liked, they were back at her place.

She undid her seatbelt, but stayed firmly rooted in place, not wanting to go inside, to break the magic of their evening together. She glanced back over at Hotch, and he could see the hesitancy in her eyes…and then something unexpected happened. Frozen in her seat, she watched as he slowly leaned over, his left hand sliding just under her jawline and into her hair…and then he was kissing her. She sat there, unresponsive for a long moment, and Hotch, thinking that he was mistaken, started to pull back, but she suddenly leaned forward and captured his lips once more.

At this, they both leaned into the kiss, and JJ found herself melting in her seat.

It was heat, pure blissful, erotic heat, and as their tongues twined for the first time, all she could wonder was why she hadn’t kissed this man ages ago.

It felt so natural, so right…so perfect in every way. He adjusted his hand slightly, tilting her head just a little bit further, trying to find that perfect angle…and then they found it, and sunk into the kiss just a little bit more, savoring each other’s taste, tongues sliding against each other. He tasted wonderful, heavenly, even, and JJ simply couldn’t get enough of it.

As his tongue wreaked havoc on her nervous system, all she could think of was that she had waited too long for this.

Too long.

All too soon, the kiss ended, and she heard herself emit a faint sound of disappointment as he pulled his lips away from her own.

“Hotch…” she breathed, unable to catch her breath properly.

His hand had slid from her hair to her neck, their foreheads pressed against each other, and he breathed against her skin, “Aaron. After that, you need to call me Aaron.”

She let out a soft laugh and reached up her right hand to cover his where it rested on her neck, his thumb caressing her pulse.

“Aaron,” she corrected herself, a grin on her face as she did. Never before had his name felt so right on her tongue. Never before had she felt so…happy. It was a wonderful feeling, and she knew that she wanted to hold onto it for a long time. “Aaron…”

They stayed in that position for a few moments longer, until he said, “I’ve gotta get back home…you know, to Jack.” She nodded, and he continued. “See you tomorrow evening? My place at seven? Dinner?”

They slowly pulled back from each other, and Hotch’s thumb brushed across her lips, a hopeful look in his eyes, and she could see, for a brief moment, an unsurety that made her heart ache for him. Was he really that insecure?

“I’ll be there,” she said, pressing a soft kiss to his finger still resting on her mouth, and he smiled.

“Good…see you then.”

And with that, she left the car and walked inside, feeling as though she were on air, and then silently made her way to her bedroom, making sure not to wake Will on the couch or Henry in his bed. If that wasn’t a perfect date, she didn’t know what was.

Sliding underneath her covers, she felt her stomach fill with butterflies at the thought of tomorrow night.

Now that the two of them had kissed, everything took on a whole new meaning…

…and she was happy.

\--

The weekend came and went, and JJ found herself unable to stop grinning even as she stepped off the elevator at the BAU and walked into the bullpen.

Of course, her smile did not go unnoticed by several people, but at that moment she could honestly say that she didn’t care. It had been a long time since she’d found anyone like Aaron Hotchner, and now that she had the man in her grasp, she was _not_ going to let him go.

Oblivious to the look that was exchanged between Prentiss, Rossi and Morgan, she leisurely ambled her way to her office, coffee in hand, her thoughts still focused on the kiss.

In silent agreement between the three other agents, Derek stood from his desk and walked up to her office, casually leaning in the doorway, and rapped on the doorframe, trying to catch her attention, but she didn’t look up.

“JJ,” he said in a sing-song voice, and her eyes suddenly snapped up and he withheld the grin that wanted to surface at her surprised, deer-in-headlights look at seeing him in her office. It was amusing, and what was even more amusing was the fact that her shirt wasn’t even properly buttoned. Her head was certainly somewhere else today.

“Derek? Hey, what do you need?” she said, absently moving papers around on her desk, trying to hide the fact that she was barely aware of his presence.

Letting out a small chuckle at the sight, he slid his hands into his pockets, still leaning against the doorframe and just shook his head.

“Man, girl…you’ve got it bad, don’t ya?”

She shook her head, vainly trying to deny it, but even as she said the words, she knew Derek wasn't buying it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

His smile softened somewhat, and he then stepped the rest of the way inside her office, closing the door behind him, knowing that this was the only way he was going to get her to tell him anything about what had happened that weekend that had made her so happy. JJ gave him another look, and his mocking smile turned soft, his eyes softening slightly as well.

“JJ…it’s obvious you’re happy. I just want to know why,” he said softly, and then he added, “But I have a feeling it has to deal with a certain Unit Chief...”

At his words, he watched as a faint blush crept onto her cheeks. She ducked her head slightly, avoiding his gaze, and he waited for several long moments before she finally lifted her head and looked him square in the eyes and said, “Yeah, it kinda does.” She then paused and he watched as she looked back down towards her hands in her lap where she was twisting her fingers around nervously, and then she finally said, in voice that was barely audible, “He kissed me.”

At hearing that, a broad grin crossed his mouth and he let out a quiet incredulous laugh.

“Really?” She nodded. “Well, then…good for him. I’m glad he’s finally showing you how he feels.”

At that, JJ’s blush returned, and Derek smiled at her good-naturedly and then pulled his hands out of his pockets, walked around her desk, sat on the edge of it, and then placed his hand over hers, giving her a small, reassuring grin in the way that only Derek Morgan could.

“Good for both of you,” he said, his voice soft, and she looked up at him at hearing his words.

“Thank you, Derek…you have no idea how much this means to me. Having your support…well, it means a lot.”

He just nodded, and then slowly stood back up, removing his hand from both of hers and then walked back to the door. But just before opening it, he turned his head slightly and said…

“You two both deserve to be happy, JJ. I’m glad you could find it with each other.”

And with that parting statement, he walked out the door, leaving her door open wide enough for her to see knowing smiles on both Rossi’s and Prentiss’s faces. Reid had just walked into the bullpen and JJ couldn’t help but laugh to herself at the look of confusion that crossed his face at the other agents’ smiles and his question of, “What? Is there something on my back, again? Damn, Agent Carter! He’s always trying to mess with me…”

She then watched as he attempted to get rid of a sign on his back that wasn’t even there, and then Morgan walked over to him, clasping a firm arm around the young profiler’s shoulders and just shook his head.

“No, Reid,” JJ heard him say. “We’re just happy to see you, that’s all…”

Morgan then looked back up to JJ’s office and gave her a small wink and she gave him a nod in return.

Seeing the team’s reassuring smiles was all that she needed to feel complete relief from anxiety she might have had about telling them about her and Hotch…_Aaron_, she corrected in her mind. They supported it, and that was all that really mattered. Feeling impulsive, however, she stepped out of her office and walked down to Aaron’s, ignoring the slightly suggestive look that Prentiss cast in her direction as she knocked on his door, rolling her eyes in response to the glance.

“Come in,” she heard him say, and she quickly stepped in, closing the door behind her, and JJ was pleased when she saw his eyes light up when he saw her. “Hey,” he said in a soft voice, one he usually only used outside the office. “What brings you down here so soon?”

She slowly walked into the room and was surprised when he stood from his chair and positioned himself so that he was leaning against his desk in a casual manner, arms crossed casually in front of his chest. Feeling almost paranoid, she glanced to the windows of his office that looked out into the bullpen, but inwardly sighed in relief when she saw that they were firmly closed. Hotch, seeing her glance to the windows, let out a small chuckle.

“What? You think I’d let them see anything?”

She let out a breathy nervous laugh, and then gave him a small shrug of her shoulders.

“No, of course not…the thing is,” she said, pressing on, “I just wanted to tell you that Morgan knows…actually, the whole team knows,” she amended. “Besides Reid, of course, but that’s not the point. The point is…he approves. And, I think Rossi and Prentiss do, too.”

At hearing this, he leaned back slightly and then let out a small sigh.

“Not surprised about Dave, or Emily, for that matter…” He then paused, taking in a deep breath, and then said, “But, I have to admit, I _was_ worried about Derek.”

She looked at him in surprise, and he quickly explained.

“He’s the one who’s usually the most worried about team dynamics and effectiveness…” She gave him a look, an eyebrow raised. “Besides me, of course,” he quickly amended, and a faint smile crossed the corner of her mouth. He slowly stood from his leaning position, and walked towards her, his hands in his pockets. “JJ,” he said softly, and she felt her heart jump slightly at the intimate and low tone that she remembered from the night that they…they’d kissed.

Slowly, because her eyes had dropped as he’d approached, she lifted her eyes to his and found herself filled with some great feeling as she looked into the eyes of the man that was her Unit Chief, her best friend…and now, something more.

A smile crossed the corner of his lips and she was shocked as he leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips that was warm and soft and all too brief.

He gently pulled away and then noted the look of shock in her eyes and let out a small chuckle.

“Have a great day,” was all he said before walking over to his door and opening it for her, showing her out.

In a slight daze, she left his office and stopped as soon as she’d walked outside of it, and stared dumbly at the Unit Chief’s closed door, trying to figure out what had just happened. What had just happened? She tried to figure it out but could not seem to come to any logical conclusion.

Vaguely realizing that the team was staring at her, she forced herself to walk back to her office, going on automatic, closing her own office door behind her and then leaning against it for a moment, before heading to her desk and sitting down.

Aaron Hotchner was a very confusing man…_but_, she thought to herself, _he’s worth every second._


End file.
